The True Goal of SEO

It is a common misconception that the goal of SEO is only to achieve a high search engine ranking for a few different keywords. It is this belief that can cause many webmasters to fail long before they even start their SEO campaign. So really, what is the true goal of search engine optimisation I hear you ask, and how can knowing this goal improve my success rate?

To better understand the goals of search engine optimisation we need take a step back and look at things from another angle. The goal of most business is to make money and if it isn't then chances are you probably won't be in business very long. Whether it's a product or service, you more than likely selling something and attempting or considering the use of SEO to help you achieve this goal.

Since the objective of your business is to make sales, let me ask you what you prefer. You can have a few thousand visitors come and then leave your site for the month or you could have one or two visitors come along and actually purchase something. In the world of business which is better?

So really, what you're looking for with SEO is targeted traffic. You don't want just anyone coming to your site. What you do want, are people who are looking to purchase your product or service. Even with well targeted traffic not every visitor is going to make a purchase, but your chances of making a sale a much greater than if your visitors are not targeted. In this situation it won't matter how great your site is you will have a hard time making a sale.

Search engine optimisation works quite well when you target the right keywords. If your keywords are specific enough, without being overly specific, you have a greater chance of bringing in traffic that will convert. When people go to search engines in order to look for something, they are already interested in what they find and half the sale is already completed for you. This isn't to say that you want everyone who uses Google to find your site. If you're selling pianos for example, it is pointless to draw traffic from people searching for hair removal products. Remember, it is targeted traffic that you are after with SEO.

So in the end the goal of SEO is not just to get a good ranking in the search engine results, but to give you a greater chance of bringing in high converting targeted traffic. You want to be directing your search traffic straight to the pages on your website they have exactly what they are looking for. Once they are there, all you need is good sales copy and you should be able to make an easy sale.

In the grand scheme of things is best to target a variety of different search terms so that you have greater chances of producing sales. It doesn't really matter if you're ranked first or 15th for the various terms that you use on the condition that they send targeted traffic to your site. In time you'll discover what terms are leading to the most sales and then you can focus your efforts to improve your rank. Focusing only on rank can waste a lot of time and effort.

You should focus your entire SEO campaign on bringing targeted traffic that converts into sales to your website. By doing this you become far more successful than if you focus on page rank alone. Remember the true goal of SEO is to bring qualified traffic to your website and not just rank number one on Google.

Shout is one of the fastest growing online marketing companies in Australasia. Shout specialises in SEO, Search Engine Marketing, website conversions, usability testing and social media marketing. Not only do Shout SEO achieve top search engine rankings for the most competitive keywords, they deal in all things web that help maximise ROI on your website.